


Howlkyuu!!

by vincentvandope



Series: Howlkyuu!! [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Gen, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:35:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28735041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vincentvandope/pseuds/vincentvandope
Summary: Hinata’s first day of high school was going perfectly fine, until he got bitten by a werewolf. Luckily for him, his new volleyball team is also full of them. But someone is out there turning first-years, and it’s up to the Karasuno pack to stop them.Inspired by Teen Wolf (the TV show), mostly for its werewolf lore.(part 1 out of 12 of the Howlkyuu!! series. Alternative title: Volleywolf)
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Series: Howlkyuu!! [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2127321
Comments: 5
Kudos: 51





	1. Things That Go Chomp In The Night

Anyone who saw Hinata Shoyo would think that he was really, really excited to start high school. They would be wrong. What he was actually excited about was going to a school with a male volleyball team. And not just any volleyball team, but the Karasuno. He had been dreaming of it for years, and it was finally happening.

  
It felt like the longest day of his life, but the lunch bell rang at least, and he run up the stairs to look for class 3-5, where his future team captain would be waiting for him. It took him a while, though, trudging his way through the third-year, much-taller-than-him students, and he wasn’t even the first one to find his way to the captain, who was already reading an application when Hinata arrived.

  
“Captain Sawamura?” The guy met Hinata’s eyes and set the paper on his desk. “Hinata Shoyo!”

  
“Nice to meet you, Hinata,” he greeted him, amused at his enthusiasm. “Please, call me Daichi.”

  
“Here.” Hinata dug into his schoolbag and handed him a crumpled up application form. “I would like to join the volleyball team, please!”

  
“I assumed so,” smiled the captain. “What position were you in middle school?”

  
“I wasn’t in a team.”

  
“Oh, you’re new to volleyball?”

  
“No. I tried to start a team, but nobody in my old school wanted to play. But I’ve been training as much as I've been able to, and I can jump really high, and I’m going to be the next Little Giant!”

  
Daichi gave him a slow nod. “Okay! Good to know.” He put his application on top of the other one. “You can come to practice tomorrow, after class. Do you know where the gym is?”

  
“Of course! Thank you! See you tomorrow!”

  
He was so happy that he was skipping his way out the classroom, but he stopped sharply at the door, coming face to chest with a very tall boy.

  
“Watch where you’re going,” he said in a disinterested tone.

  
“Tsukishima, Yamaguchi. I was waiting for you.”

  
The pair went around Hinata to talk to Daichi, papers in hand, and he stood there for a second, taking his new teammates in. Teammates! He finally had teammates!

  
. . .

  
Hinata was still ecstatic during the afternoon classes, and through his bike ride home, and his energy didn’t dip as he spent the rest of the day training in his backyard, stopping only to make dinner for himself and his little sister.

  
It was after this, while he bounced his volleyball against the wall and thought about the homework that he was already behind in, that he heard a strange noise coming from the darkness beyond his porchlight.

  
“Hello?”

  
He shook his head and turned back around, resuming his bouncing. A branch cracked.

  
This time, when he looked, there was a black dog there. He couldn’t make out the breed, only the huge size, because in the next second he was on the ground, pinned down by the creature. He felt a sharp pain on his left side, but he had no air in his lungs to scream. He struggled, rolled aside, and swung his arms wildly into the air. When he managed to sit up with a cry of pain and look around, he was alone again.

  
He almost thought he had imagined it all, but he tried to stand up and, this time, did scream. The left side of his torso sported a huge, bleeding bite, and he started to panic.

  
“Shut up, Shoyo!” Natsu yelled from her bedroom. “I’m supposed to be asleep already!”

  
“Sorry!”

  
The window snapped closed again, and Hinata gathered himself. His parents weren’t home yet. Maybe he should call an ambulance. No, he would disinfect the wound first.

  
After washing it in the sink, it didn’t look so bad. It wasn’t actually that big, and it had stopped bleeding, apparently. It didn’t feel right. It had been maybe five minutes, and it seemed too soon. But Hinata had no illusions about his medical knowledge, so he assessed that it was probably okay to wait until his parents got back. The scare had left him drained of his usual spirits, so he haphazardly dressed the wound and lay on his bed to wait.

  
. . .

  
When his alarm went off, he jumped up, tugging on his bandages. They were still there, but he wasn’t in pain. Breakfast smell was wafting in from the kitchen.

  
“Mom?” He started making his way downstairs, undressing the wound that… was no longer there.

  
“Good morning, Shoyo.” Her smile dwindled a little when she saw his face, and the bandage still half stuck to his skin. “What happened?”

  
“I… had a wound, but…”

  
“Let me see.” Hinata knew what was coming, but was still surprised by hearing it out loud. “There’s nothing here.”

  
“I know.”

  
“You shouldn’t waste bandages like this, Shoyo.”

  
“I’m sorry. I really thought I needed it.”

  
“It’s okay, honey.” She fixed his hair with her fingers, combing it into a more controlled mess. “Just don’t do it again. Be a dear and make sure your sister is ready for school.”

  
So maybe he had imagined it after all. A downright hallucination, if he had believed it so strongly that he had actually bandaged himself up. But that was a problem to ponder later. Now, it was time for another day of classes and then, at last, his first practice with his new volleyball team.

. . .

After running to change into his sport clothes and running some more to get to the gym, Hinata was feeling ready. Refreshed. Positively stoked. Until he saw another guy waiting for the gym’s door to be unlocked.

  
Black hair, a face like he had just eaten a lemon, and towering a full head over him. The King of the Court. The boy he had lost to in the first and last volleyball match he had ever played, almost a year ago.

  
“You?” both boys said at once, with twin horrified faces.

  
“Wow, they got here before us, even!” a voice said behind them. “Hello, I’m Sugawara Koshi, but you can call me Suga.”

  
They introduced themselves to the senior while the captain opened the gym, stealing angry glances at each other. How was Hinata supposed to get revenge against him if they were on the same team? And why would he be mad at him? He won the match!

  
More guys arrived at the gym, and they started setting up for the training session. Daichi introduced the new and the old members and they warmed up in pairs. And, of course, Hinata got paired up with the King, who he now knew as Kageyama Tobio, and who, so far, appeared to only have two faces: angry, and surprised-angry.

  
“Why are you mad at me?” Hinata finally asked. “I’m the one who lost!”

  
“It’s none of your business.”

  
“Then stop looking at me like you’re going to murder me.”

  
“It’s my face.” A third expression: annoyed-angry.

  
Hinata wasn’t sure why it was being so hard to let it go. He wasn’t usually an angry person, but something about this guy was getting to him.

  
“Hey, your Highness and tangerine shortcake, can you shut up and train?”

  
That came from the tall boy he had bumped into in class 3-5, Tsukishima Kei, who seemed to be that blunt all the time. The other freshman, Yamaguchi Tadashi, laughed. Hinata grabbed the ball that Kageyama tossed him, trying to steady his breath, but when he went to pass it back, it didn’t. It was stuck to his hand.

  
“What is...?” He grabbed it with his other hand and unstuck it from his fingernails. No, claws. His hands had claws. “What is happening to me!?”

  
The first face he saw was Kageyama’s, and while he seemed surprised, he didn’t look shocked. Hinata, on the other hand, was losing his mind.

  
“Hey, hey, it’s okay!” Suga tried to grab his arms, but Hinata backed up, bumping against a wall, shaking his hands like the claws were just going to fly off of his fingers. “I thought you said this one wasn’t a wolf.”

  
“He wasn’t yesterday.” Daichi appeared next to Suga. “Did anything happen to you last night, Hinata?”

  
“What… what is happening…”

  
“Hinata. Look at me.” He did, and Suga’s eyes changed from brown to a glowing red. “Calm down.”

  
Despite the shock, Hinata felt himself calming down. Suga’s eyes were hypnotic, and he saw himself reflected on them. His own eyes were bright yellow.

  
“How did you… Are my eyes yellow right now?”

  
“You are a werewolf, Hinata.”

  
“I’m a… what now?” It made as much sense as anything else that had happened since the previous night, so he found himself accepting it without much struggle. “And you too… and Daichi?”

  
“We are all werewolves, dumbass,” Tsukishima said, fixing his glasses.

  
“I thought you were crows,” a man with glasses and curly hair said from the door. “Is this the volleyball club?”

  
“Yes. It’s just an inside joke,” Daichi said, giving Hinata a quick once-over. No glowing eyes, no claws. Just a boy. “Can I help you?”

  
“Hello, I’m Takeda Ittetsu. I’m the faculty advisor assigned to the Karasuno Volleyball Club.”

  
Daichi apologized and started to introduce himself. Suga leaned closer to Hinata. “We’ll talk after practice. But I’m going to need you to stay calm until then. Can you do that for me?”

  
Hinata promised without much confidence, but after the proper introductions to Mr. Takeda, Daichi paired him with a second-year named Ennoshita, and they made sure to keep Kageyama and Tsukishima as far from him as possible.


	2. Who Is In Control?

“Are you sure?”

  
“Yes, Mr. Takeda. We have the key, and we do this all the time. We’ll tidy up and lock the gym. You can trust us.”

  
“Well, then.” He seemed satisfied with Daichi’s reassurances, or maybe he just wanted to get away from a bunch of sweaty teenage boys as soon as possible. “Good practice, everyone! I promise I’ll start learning about volleyball on my own. I’ll be an expert by tomorrow!”

  
“Thank you, Mr. Takeda!”

  
Moments later, the four freshmen were sitting before the second and third-years. “I’m going to go over the basics now. I know you’ve been a werewolf for years,” he said, looking at Kageyama, “and I know we just had this talk days ago,” he looked at the other two, “but you’re all officially joining the pack today, and you’ve all been in his shoes at some point, so be understanding. And stop taunting him.”

  
Daichi spent the next twenty minutes explaining and demonstrating. He then asked Hinata to share what happened to him, and then spent ten more minutes patiently answering Hinata’s sci-fi-fueled questions.

  
“Shouldn’t there be only one alpha in a pack?” He said after Daichi showed him his red eyes. “Isn’t that the point of being the alpha?”

  
Daichi shrugged. “I don’t see why. It works for us.”

  
“Can I be one someday?”

  
Daichi’s jaw clenched, and Kageyama scoffed. “You could never be one.”

  
“Yeah? And why is that?”

  
“Because you would have to kill an alpha and take their power from them.”

  
Hinata’s head turned sharply to Daichi, and instinctively recoiled. “Wait. You… and you?” Suga looked away.

  
“Not everyone has to kill,” Daichi said. “Suga is a true alpha. He became one by his own virtue.” His fellow alpha’s hand came to rest on his shoulder, and Daichi put his over it.

  
“And… what about you?” The captain avoided his eyes. “How did you become one?”

  
“When it happened to me, our alpha feared that the pack would follow me instead,” Suga said with a bitter laugh. “Like I ever wanted to lead. He tried to murder me, and Daichi stopped him.”

  
“I didn’t mean to kill him,” he whispered. In the silence of the gym, it felt loud as a gunshot. “I was just trying to protect him.”

  
Suga kissed the top of his head. “I know.”

  
“I’m sorry I asked,” Hinata said.

  
“It’s fine. You’re a part of our pack now, so you have a right to know. And now it’s time for you newbies to practice. The full moon is three nights away, and it’s going to get really tough. Kageyama, you’re back with Hinata. You have my permission to piss him off now.” Oh, so the asshole knew how to smile. “Tanaka, with Tsukishima.”

  
“Come here, boy!” He yelled, patting his thighs as if calling a dog. “Who’s a good boy?”

  
“If I rip his face off, it’s his own fault.”

  
“I’ll take Yamaguchi,” called Suga. “He seems fragile.”

  
Practice consisted of Kageyama being mean to him, throwing volleyballs at his face, and overall tormenting him for an hour while Hinata tried to suppress his anger, without much success. He even went full werewolf a couple of times, getting so out of control that Daichi and Suga had to use their alpha influence again to bring him back.

  
“Hinata, I’m going to put it plainly,” started Daichi, “you are dangerous right now. You are very volatile. You’re going to stay the night at my house. Call your parents.”

  
“I can’t! They get home late. I have to take care of my little sister!”

  
“Can you have a friend over?” Suga asked. “I can stay the night, make sure you don’t lose it. We can train, if you want. I can set for you.”

  
“You would do that!?”

  
“Sure.”

  
“Okay! Give me a second!”

  
His mother wasn’t as quickly convinced as him, raising objections about bringing a stranger into the house, but a short conversation with calm and responsible-sounding Sugawara changed her mind, and she allowed it.

  
Suga forced him to do his homework before playing volleyball, and insisted on cooking dinner. Natsu loved him instantly.

  
“So, did it happen here?” Suga asked, spinning the ball between his hands.

  
“Yes.” Hinata pointed to the spot where he saw the wolf, and to the place where he fell under him. “Oh, yikes. I think that’s my blood.”

  
“Yup,” he said, sniffing, “it is.”

  
“Gross.” Hinata gestured for Suga to set the ball for him, and he made a perfect kill with no blockers. “I didn’t want to ask them, but did the same thing happen to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi?”

  
“Yes. We’re pretty confident that it’s only been you three so far, but we don’t know who is doing it, or why. Daichi wants to investigate further before talking to the other packs, but it’s getting more urgent by the day.”

  
“And Kageyama has been a wolf for longer?”

  
“He was part of another pack before us, but he was kicked out.”

  
“Why?”

  
“He didn’t say, and we didn’t ask. You’ll have to ask him yourself.”

  
“He won’t tell me.” Hinata rolled his eyes. “He hates me.”

  
“I don’t think so. I think he was hurt by his first pack, and he’s being cautious now. Can’t get hurt if you don’t get attached.”

  
“He could ignore me then! But he doesn’t, he yells at me, he gives me mean looks- and don’t get me started with Tsukishima! I met him today! Why is he so mean all the time!?”

  
“Hinata.” Suga’s voice was calm, but his eyes were glowing. “I need you to calm down right now.”

  
“I can’t! I just don’t understand why they treat me like that!”

  
“Shoyo?” Natsu’s little voice came from the sliding door. “Are you okay?”

  
Suga’s eyes went off, and he turned to the child with a trained smile. “Everything’s fine, Natsu. Can you go to your room? It’s pretty late. I’ll go up in a little bit and read a story to you.”

  
She started shaking. “Shoyo? What’s wrong with him?”

  
He sensed him move and Suga’s arm shot up to get between Hinata and his sister. But Hinata was smiling without fangs, hands up, eyes back to normal.

  
“It’s nothing. Suga is right. Let’s get you into bed!”

  
He lifted her and settled her on his shoulders, and Suga followed him, alert.

  
Natsu wasn’t so easy to put to bed, though. Half an hour and two storybooks later, Hinata and Suga were in the bathroom, undoing their braids and pigtails, getting ready to go to sleep.

  
. . .

  
With no other incidents during the day, Hinata got through classes and practice feeling good about himself. He was dreading the anger management training, but after finding the strength to calm himself down that past evening, he was ready to try again. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he ever hurt anyone, much less Natsu, so he was going to have to learn, and fast.

  
“Very good practice, everyone!” cheered Mr. Takeda at the end of the session. “And I have some pretty amazing news!”

  
“Are Noya and Asahi coming back?” Tanaka asked, earning himself a stern warning from Daichi about interrupting your betters.

  
“Nishinoya Yuu will be able to come back next week. And I’m not sure who this Asahi is…?”

  
“He left the team,” Daichi answered. “I apologize for Tanaka’s interruption. You said you had news?”

  
“Yes!” His perennial aloof smile lit up. “I’ve been contacting other teams, and one of them has accepted to play a practice match against you this Friday!” Hinata looked around, and several pairs of eyes were looking at him too. His first match, on his first full moon. And he was definitely the one who lost control the easiest. They were going to bench him. “It’s one of the best teams in the prefecture, I believe.”

  
“Oh, damn! Alright, Mr. Takeda!”

  
“Tanaka, shut up.” Daichi’s eyes didn’t glow red, but the effect was the same.

  
“It’s the Aoba Johsai. They invited us to their campus, so I will get us a bus. I’ll meet you here and we’ll leave right after class.”

  
“That’s where Oikawa Tooru plays, right?”

  
“Oh, man, they’re gonna kick our asses.”

  
“No,” Kageyama said, a little too loud.

  
“Is anything wrong?” Mr. Takeda asked, visibly confused. “I thought it seemed like a really good opportunity…”

  
“It is,” Daichi assured him. “We are very grateful, Mr. Takeda. Thank you. Everyone is very thankful.”

  
The team rushed to back their captain up, except for Kageyama, who kept quiet until Mr. Takeda left.

  
“Kageyama, I think you should go. Show them that-”

  
“No.”

  
Hinata felt his own anger rise up to meet Kageyama’s. How could he be so rude to Suga, of all people? “What’s your problem?”

  
“That is my old pack.” He was shaking, but Hinata sensed somehow that it wasn’t anger this time. It was fear. It was hurt. “I can’t go.”


	3. Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun

“Dude, you were turned by Oikawa Tooru?” Tanaka shook his head. “He seems like an asshole.”

  
“He is.”

  
“He's amazing!” Hinata couldn’t help himself. “I mean. At volleyball.”

  
“He is the worst. He always hated me for no reason.”

  
“Jeez, I wonder what that feels like.”

  
“I don’t hate you,” Kageyama muttered under his breath.

  
Hinata imitated his tone and said, “it sure feels like it." Kageyama rolled his eyes. "What happened? How did you end up here?”

  
“I was kicked out.”

  
“Why?”

  
Kageyama held his stare, then broke it.

  
“Guys, time to practice.”

  
“No, I want to know why!”

  
“Hinata, that’s enough,” warned Daichi for a second time.

  
“You don’t know either, right? What if it was something really bad? What if he deserved to be kicked out? Shouldn’t you know before letting him into the pack?”

  
“We don’t know anything about you either, Hinata,” intervened Suga. “Your past is your own.”

  
“He could be dangerous!”

  
“I’m going to get dangerous if you don’t leave me alone…” Kageyama said, his control slipping a little. His eyes glowed, but they didn't turn yellow, like Hinata had been told non-alpha's eyes were.

  
They shone light blue.

  
“Hinata, Kageyama,” Daichi growled. “Enough.” A second passed. Only Suga moved, getting between the two freshmen. “You didn’t mention that your eyes were blue.”

  
“You don’t know what I’ve been through. You have killed too. You have no higher ground to stand on.”

  
“I didn’t kill an innocent.”

  
“Is that right? What do you think your eyes would look like if you weren’t an alpha?”

  
Suga opened his mouth, but Daichi answered first, raising his voice. “I killed protecting someone else. I don’t know what happened to you, but I’ll be honest, I would like an explanation.”

  
“So you’re not that welcoming after all, huh?”

  
“I’ve got a pack to protect. I’m willing to hear you out, but that means you’ve got to speak.”

  
Kageyama turned his back to them, took a deep breath, and faced them again. He lowered his eyes to the ground, and that’s where they stayed.

  
“I thought I was careful, but Kindaichi, one of my teammates who wasn’t a werewolf, found me out. He threatened to expose me if I didn’t turn him. He gave me 24 hours. I went to my alpha, Oikawa, and he told me that it was my own problem, and I had to fix it. So I bit him.” Two drops fell on the ground below his face. “He didn’t make it. The… the poison in the bite rejected him. And Oikawa still wouldn’t help me. I called him while Kindaichi was still fighting for his life, and he just hang up on me. I had to set it up as if it had been an animal attack. And then,” he spat out the words. “Then Oikawa called a meeting. Told them what I had done, and kicked me out. I was supposed to go to Aoba Johsai, play in their team. But he turned everyone on me and I found myself without a team and without a pack.”

  
“You have one now,” said Suga, throwing an arm around his shaking shoulders. “Right?”

  
“Yes,” Daichi said firmly, “you do.” Kageyama only cried harder.

  
“Shit, he really is an asshole.”

  
Hinata was holding back tears himself. “I’m sorry, Kage-“

  
“Leave me alone.”

  
“I’m trying to apologize!”

  
“I don’t care.”

  
“But-“

  
“Hinata, give him time. Kageyama, come with me.”

  
He followed Suga into the equipment room and Daichi clapped his hands. “C’mon, everyone, time to train.”

  
. . .

  
Hinata had a much easier time that evening, either because of his newfound self-control or because it was Daichi doing the taunting, and he was much less mean than Kageyama. Whatever the reason, everyone ended the secret practice with good results and the captain insisted on treating them.

  
He took them to a mom-and-pop shop near Karasuno High School, where a mean-looking cashier charged Daichi for the snacks and seemed annoyed by their general existence. They sat down in front of the store to eat.

  
“So,” started Kageyama, without looking at anyone in particular, “how did it happen for you, guys?” Nobody answered, and he turned to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, his face back to its usual angry self. “I was talking to you two!”

  
“Were you?”

  
“You usually look at people when you talk to them, your Majesty.”

  
“Nevermind.”

  
“No, I want to know!” Hinata backed him. “You were also turned recently, right?”

  
“Yes.”

  
Hinata waited, but Tsukishima didn’t elaborate. “Um… how?”

  
“Same as you.”

  
“I gave you the details! C’mon! You only have long answers when you’re picking on someone. Jeez.”

  
“He was bit last week, when he was on his way home from buying groceries,” Yamaguchi started.

  
“Okay, okay, I’ll tell it myself.” Tsukishima adjusted his glasses and crossed his arms. “Last week, I was bit on my way home, after doing some grocery shopping.”

  
“That’s what I just said.”

  
“You didn't tell it right. Anyway, what was obviously a wolf attacked me-“

  
Hinata frowned. “Are you saying that because I told you I thought it was a big dog?”

  
“Don’t interrupt me. The obvious wolf bit my leg. A neighbor heard it and called an ambulance. But after some hours in the hospital, a nurse came to check on the wound and it was gone. Everyone got mad at me, saying that I faked it and that it was not a funny prank, wasting doctors’ time. I assumed I hit my head and apologized, but my mom grounded me anyway. No getting out of the house until classes started. And then this genius decided that it was a great idea to sneak out in the middle of the night and come hang out with me.”

  
“I suggested it and you said ‘please’.”

  
“I’m the one telling the story.”

  
“Actually, we’re getting to when I was bitten, so it should be my turn to tell it.”

  
“I'm good, thank you. So he said that he’d be outside my window at nine, but nine o’clock hit, and he was nowhere to be found.”

  
“And I’m very punctual.”

  
“Yamaguchi, it really is basic politeness to not interrupt. Where was I? Right, so he’s very punctual, and I started worrying. I climbed out of the window and found him, not a hundred meters from my house, crying and bleeding on the sidewalk.”

  
“Oh, like you didn’t cry?”

  
“Of course not.”

  
“Yeah? And what did your neighbor hear, then? How did he know to call an ambulance?”

  
“A wolf bites me and you want me to not yell for help?”

  
“I didn’t! It was late so I cried quietly, so I didn’t disturb anyone.”

  
“Are you bragging about being more concerned with bothering people than dying?” Yamaguchi didn’t answer. “Right. Anyway, I found him with a bite, I realized I didn’t make it up, I hauled him to my room and I looked over him while he healed.”

  
“You were very worried and you cried with me.”

  
“It’s your word against mine.”

  
“You are a softie.”

  
“Am not.”

  
“Are too.”

  
“I’m not a softie!”

  
“Aw, you are a softie!” The glimmer of his glasses was the only indication of movement Hinata had, and it didn’t give him enough time to duck. Tsukishima’s hand slapped the back of his head as he tried to run away, and he faceplanted on the ground.

  
“C’mon, boys, enough,” Daichi said, his laugh drowned out by Tanaka’s.

  
“Oh, man! Did you see how he landed? Hey, Hinata, don’t worry! Your face will regenerate, you can leave the old one on the pavement!”

  
The cashier came out to yell at them, and they got up to leave. Daichi gave the three new wolves the all-clear, asked to call him if they needed anything, and let them go without a nanny for the night.

  
“This Friday will be tough, though. Even some of the veterans here have issues with control on a full moon, so you’re all going to tell your parents that we're having a team sleepover to celebrate the match. Hinata, I’ll think of what to do about your sister. And, Kageyama… I do want you to reconsider the Aoba Johsai match. Oikawa failed you. You are not the one who should be ashamed. You have a new pack, and we have your back.” He didn’t answer, and Daichi shrugged. “We will respect whatever your choice is.”

  
“I’ll play,” Kageyama answered. His hair was blue under the nearly full moon, and his eyes shone. Hinata was getting better at reading him. This face looked almost the same as his angry one, but it wasn’t. This glimmer in his eye was determination.


	4. Keep Your Friends Close

Aoba Johsai High School looked like a town in and of itself. Hinata felt out of place there, but then he remembered that he was surrounded by his team and that he was about to start the second volleyball match of his life, and his spirits rose back up. They finally found the building they were looking for: Gymnasium 3.

  
“Tobio. I hoped you would come.”

  
Kageyama could only look at him for half a second before looking away. “I’m sure you did.”

  
“I hope you’re not causing trouble in your new little pack.” Hinata looked at Oikawa’s smug face. “I was so happy to hear that you found one.” His voice was perfectly pleasant, a stark contrast to Kageyama’s shaky response.

  
“How dare you-”

  
“I’m Sawamura Daichi, the Karasuno’s captain.” He stepped in front of Kageyama, holding his hand out. “Pleasure to meet you.”

  
“Oikawa Tooru,” he answered, accepting it, “same.” Hadn’t they both been alphas, that handshake would have been bone-shattering. “I’ve heard of you,” he added, in a lower voice.

  
“Same. I can’t say it’s been nice.”

  
“I’ve heard you’ve been biting first-years, growing your pack. Some could take that as a move. You should be careful.”

  
“You heard wrong.”

  
“It’s just some friendly advice.” He gave him a saccharine smile. “You wouldn’t want the big bad wolves of Shiratorizawa to think you’re trying to dethrone them, would you?”

  
“I'm back!” said Mr. Takeda, with an oblivious smile that didn’t match the mood in the room at all. “Ready to warm up?”

  
“Yes, Mr. Takeda.” Daichi let go of Oikawa and walked past him. The rest of the team followed, and Oikawa became a white spot between a sea of black jackets.

  
. . .

  
“Hinata.” Shoyo had heard that voice so little that, even raising his eyes to find Kiyoko in front of him, kneeling to his sitting height, he still didn’t comprehend that it had come from the quiet manager. “Hinata?”

  
“Yes?”

  
“I need your mother’s phone number.”

  
“W-what? Why?”

  
She gave him a blank stare. “I’m baby-sitting your sister…?”

  
Daichi had informed him this morning. Although Kiyoko became a werewolf later than both him and Suga, she had mastered control before them, and he assured him she was the safest person for Natsu to be with during a full moon in Miyagi.

  
“Oh, right. Thank you! Wait.” He grabbed his phone and called her himself. “Hey, mom? Can you talk right now? Yeah, she’s here. Kiyoko, mom. Okay. Thanks! I love you too!” He presented her the phone. “Here. Everyone, my mom says ‘good luck’!”

  
The team yelled their thanks and he went back to stretching while Kiyoko talked to her.

  
“Hinata, thank you.” Tanaka’s creepy whisper in his ear sent a shiver down his spine.

  
“Ew, don’t do that! What for?”

  
“For allowing me to hear Kiyoko speak. Oh, God. Oh, shit. She's smiling! Hinata, Kiyoko's smiling! Oh, man, wait until I tell Noya. He’s gonna freak out.”

  
“Dude… Stop it…”

  
“This is just the kind of pumping up I needed! I’m gonna crush these stuck-up rich kids! We are about to win this match, boys!”

  
. . .

  
“So, we lost.”

  
“But nobody lost control!” Suga interrupted Daichi, beaming. “I’m so proud of all of you!”

  
“Right. And today is a rough day, with the full moon hours away. You all held up very well.”

  
“I thought Hinata was dead when he hit Kageyama,” Yamaguchi whispered, but everyone picked it up with their wolf hearing. Kageyama brought his hand to the back of his head and Hinata ran and ducked behind Suga.

  
“For a new team, not used to playing together, we didn’t do half bad. And against one of the best teams in the prefecture. You did great today. But the really tough part starts in a couple of hours, so let’s get moving. Good game, everyone!”

  
The team cheered for themselves and filed out of the changing room. Back in their school, they pretended to go their separate ways until Mr. Takeda was safely out of sight, and then they turned around. The whole team gathered back up in the gym except for Kiyoko, who did leave for real, taking Hinata’s bike and his very confusing sheet of directions. She pulled up Google Maps.

  
“Hello, hello! It smells like fresh meat in here! Well, it could smell fresher, to be honest.”

  
“Dude! You missed Kiyoko smiling!”

  
“What? And you didn’t take a picture for me?”

  
“Suga took my phone.”

  
“And I’ll give it back when I think you deserve it.”

  
“Oh, c’mon!”

  
The stranger looked the first-years up and down. Mostly up. “Hi, I’m Nishinoya Yuu, your favorite libero!”

  
“You are… shorter than me?”

  
“Hey, Tanaka, didn’t you say that the mean one was the tall one with the glasses?”

  
“This one isn’t mean on purpose.”

  
“Yeah, you have to be at least a little smart for that.”

  
“Ooh, you weren’t kidding. Tsukishima, right? Don’t worry, big guy, I’ll pick up what you can’t block.”

  
“Won’t be too busy, then.”

  
“We’ll see about that.”

  
Shorter than him and going head to head against Tsukishima? Hinata was already a fan. He wasn’t a fan of the bag of chains that Daichi appeared with, though.

  
. . .

  
“I promise I’ll be good! Just let me out for five minutes! This is really uncomfortable!”

  
“You didn’t improve that much, Hinata. You’re staying chained up.”

  
“Stop shrieking, pipsqueak.” Tsukishima closed his eyes in annoyance. “My head hurts enough without that unbearable noise you call a voice.”

  
“Tsukishima, this is a bad night for everyone. Don’t make it harder.”

  
“I don’t know, I think I’m starting to like being chained up. It's like a hug,” said Tanaka. “Is that weird?”

  
“I would go back to being chained up if you’d chain me up with Kiyoko.”

  
“I’m going to chain you up and gag you.”

  
“Is that a promise?”

  
“I didn’t miss you at all, Nishinoya.”

  
“Yes, you did.” Suga poked Daichi’s side and got up. “Kiyoko’s back.”

  
Hinata had also thought so. His senses had improved since the bite, but they were going into overdrive now. He could hear the insects outside, the wind against the grass, Kiyoko’s quiet steps as she approached the gym door. The clang of it unlocking and opening was too much, and he winced. He needed to get out of the chains and out of the room, to run, to chase-

  
“Your sister is really cute, Hinata.”

  
He opened his eyes. He could feel that they were still glowing, could see their golden reflection on her glasses, but his brain cleared up. “She can be mean, too. She shouts at me a lot.”

  
“Look.” Kiyoko turned her head, showing him the little braids secured with butterfly clips that sat atop her flowing hair.

  
“She must have loved doing your hair. She always complains that mine’s too short.”

  
“She missed you. She was talking about you all evening.”

  
“Kiyoko! You look so beautiful with those braids!”

  
“Kiyoko?” Noya’s voice came from the equipment room. He came out holding a broken mop. “Kiyoko!”

  
“Oh, no.”

  
“Kiyoko, I’ve missed you so much!” He dropped what he was holding and jumped towards her, arms splayed out, aiming for a hug. Faster than Hinata could follow her, almost as if she had teleported, she stepped aside, leaving Noya to fall and roll the length of the gym.

  
“I’ve missed you too, Nishinoya.”

  
“Did you hear that, loser?!”

  
“Did you miss me too, Kiyoko?”

  
“Tanaka, you never left.”

  
“I leave every evening. Don’t you miss me? I miss you every second I’m not with you!”

  
Hinata turned to a whooshing sound. Daichi was holding a spare chain, casually swinging it, the links blurring into a silver circle in the air. “The next person to bother Kiyoko will be getting a chainful in his big, loud, stupid mouth.” There was no sound but the metal cutting through the air. “That’s what I thought.”

  
. . .

  
It was a hard night, and Hinata ended up blacking out for most of it. For the veterans, it went really well. There had been accidents before, fights. But nobody got out of the chains on Friday and, by Saturday morning, everyone was exhausted but whole. And sometimes, that’s all you can hope for.


	5. Because The Night Belongs To Werewolves

After a weekend of mandatory recovery and secret backyard practice, Hinata was back on his best mood, ready to take on his second week at Karasuno. But when he got to the gym (before Kageyama did, as everyone who asked or didn’t heard him tell it), Mr. Takeda was already there. With the mean cashier from the corner store.

  
“Good afternoon, Mr. Takeda! And, um…”

  
“Coach Ukai,” the man answered with no enthusiasm.

  
“Coach?”

  
“I’ll explain when everyone’s here,” Mr. Takeda said excitedly.

  
And, as a bonus surprise, ‘everyone’ turned out to be even more people than expected. The aforementioned Asahi was back with Noya, and he seemed as quiet as Kiyoko and even more shy. He also looked like a college student, and Hinata couldn’t wait to see him to transform into a werewolf. He would look so big and intimidating!

  
Practice was very different that day. Unlike poor Mr. Takeda, Coach Ukai knew what he was doing, being the grandson of the coach that led the Little Giant to Nationals. And he, Hinata knew, would follow in his steps, just like he was going to follow in the Little Giant’s. He could already see it. Everything was lining up to make his dream a reality. Although his dream hadn’t included being a werewolf, but honestly, that just made it even better.

  
After the official practice, Daichi informed them that they wouldn’t be working on their control that day. With the team in full and after the result of the Aoba Johsai match, they should actually practice volleyball, get used to playing with each other.

  
Hinata’s energy barely went down, even after all those hours of exercise, but he wasn’t sure how much of that was the wolf and how much was just his hyperactive self. Whatever the case was, other people’s did, and then it became only him and Kageyama training in one side of the gym (because Kageyama wasn’t going to admit to getting tired before Hinata, not ever) and Noya and Asahi on the other, making up for their time off.

  
“Okay, kids, let’s close up,” said Noya, twirling the keys between his fingers. “I’m starving.”

  
The four of them seemed to be going the same way for a while, so Hinata asked, “what happened? Why were you out of the team for a month?”

  
“Do you mind if I tell them?”

  
“Sure,” the big guy answered in a soft voice.

  
“The new ones all have crazy stories, too. Tanaka told me over the phone. I can tell you later.”

  
“Yeah, okay.”

  
“So, we were practicing, a day just like this, right? And we start heading home and we split, not far from here, actually.” He stopped and looked around, resting his hands on his hips. “We were already pretty far apart, but my senses are amazing, even for a werewolf, you know? So I hear him scream. And I’m like ‘hey, who the hell is scaring my Asahi?’ so I start running. I find him up in a tree, like the biggest, buffest cat ever, and there’s this wolf under the tree, digging its claws on the trunk, so I run up to him and I turn, like this-“ He put his hands up, flashing his menacing claws, his features wolfish a second, back to human the next. His eyes were yellow. “And I growl at him, because you can do that, you know, kind of communicate with other animals, show them who’s boss? So the wolf looks at me and its eyes flash red and I’m like ‘oh, shit’, but it runs away, and I’m like ‘oh, thank God’, because I’m really tough and all, but an alpha is an alpha, you know? So I help Asahi down and his trouser leg is torn, but the wolf hadn’t managed to actually bite him, but he did have some scratches from climbing the tree that were bleeding, so we went back to the school to get him patched up, and we had a little argument. He broke a mop, I broke a window, and he decided that he needed some time away from all this werewolf stuff and I got banned from volleyball practice for a month for destroying school property. And that’s basically it. Any questions?”

  
“Asahi is not a werewolf?” asked Hinata in disbelief.

  
“Obviously not, you moron! He just said that the alpha tried to bite him!”

  
“It’s okay!” Asahi smiled nervously, trying to calm them down. “It happens all the time.”

  
“He could be a werewolf.”

  
“I don’t want to.”

  
“I still don’t get why! You wouldn’t need me to protect you if you were one too!”

  
“If I’m such a bother, then don’t protect me.”

  
“You know that’s not what I meant.” Noya’s voice went quiet in a way that Hinata wouldn’t have thought possible from such a happy, loud guy. “I’m sorry I brought it up again. Let’s just drop it.”

  
“I’m sorry I said that.” All three boys turned away from Asahi at the same time, looking in the direction of the school. “What? What is it?”

  
“Something happened. Somebody screamed.”

  
“They’re at the school?”

  
“Yes,” answered Noya, closing his eyes. “The library? It’s a girl. I don’t think I know her.” By the time he opened them back up, the two freshmen were gone. “Oh, man. Daichi is going to kill me.”

  
They started to run, at Asahi’s pace, which was no match for two young werewolves who were not holding back. Their usual race to the gym always ended up in a tie because they had to pretend they didn’t have supernatural speed but also didn’t want to overcorrect and let the other one win. This time, all bets were off.

  
. . .

  
“I won! I definitely won.”

  
“At being the slowest.”

  
“You always have an answer for everything, huh?”

  
“Shut up, moron. Someone’s in danger.”

  
They opened one door each, slowly. There was a wolf scent still there, but not one they could recognize. Every wolf scent still felt just… wolf-scented.

  
There was also a girl, trying to hold back sobs.

  
“Hello?” The crying stopped. “We heard you scream. Are you okay?”

  
“Who are you?”

  
“I’m Hinata Shoyo, class 1-1!”

  
“Kageyama Tobio, class 1-3.”

  
A blond head appeared from behind a bookshelf. “Is it still here?”

  
“The w-?” The wind got knocked out of Hinata’s chest by Kageyama’s punch.

  
“What are you talking about?”

  
“There was a wolf here. In the library.” Her voice was shaking as violently as she was. “How was there a wolf in the library?”

  
“A wolf? In the library? Jeez.” Kageyama shot him a look that said that he was bad at lying and to shut up. A lot of words for a single look, but he made it work.

  
“Are you hurt?”

  
“It bit me. I’m bleeding. I left my phone on the desk I was studying at and I can’t get up. It hurts too much,” she said between sniffles.

  
“Asahi, call Daichi.”

  
“On it.”

  
The two upperclassmen walked right past them, down to business. Noya sat with the girl. “What’s your name?”

  
“Yachi Hitoka.” She saw him going for her hand and she tried to get away, bumping into the bookcase. “Ow.”

  
“Can I hold your hand? I’ve heard that skin to skin contact can help with pain. It’ll have to do while we wait for the ambulance.”

  
“You didn’t tell him to call an ambulance. Who’s Daichi?”

  
“I think you’re confused. It’s normal, the scare, the bloodloss.” He held her hand, wet with blood. “Just rest until help gets here, okay?”

  
She began to cry harder. Hinata walked over to them, wanting to help, but not knowing how. Noya let out a breath, wincing, and Hinata looked down at their linked hands. The veins in his hand were somehow darkening, and the darkness kept spidering up his arm, disappearing under the sleeve of his jacket.

  
“Is it helping?”

  
“I…” Her sobbing started to subside. “I think you were right.”

  
“Dang. I really don’t hear that enough.” He turned to Hinata. “Hey, how about you try? I’m gonna walk around, make sure the wolf is gone.” He didn’t wait for an answer, just slipped her hand into his and raised to his feet.

  
“I don’t know how to…”

  
“You understood what I was doing, right?” Hinata nodded. “Just think about it. It’s willpower, really. Think about helping with her pain.”

  
“Thinking? I’m not sure he can do that.”

  
“You know what, Kageyama-“

  
“You’re coming with me. Let’s see if we find anything.”

  
Hinata watched them go, wishing he could go search with them. But he had been given a mission, so he swallowed his disappointment and sat down. He focused on trying to ease her pain. It came easy, and it hurt, but Hinata didn’t stop, even while Asahi sat with them and stanched the bleeding with his sweater and her pain spiked back up.

  
“Can you hold it down?” He asked Hinata while he struggled with his phone. “I have to call Kiyoko.” Hinata pressed on the stained sweater while Asahi got the phone out of his back pocket. She picked up at the first tone.

  
“What’s wrong? Nishinoya, if you’re calling me from Asahi’s phone again, Suga said I can choose your punishment.”

  
“It’s me!” he said, dropping his head apologetically even though she couldn’t see him. “Again, I’m sorry about that. I didn’t know that’s what he wanted my phone for.”

  
“Oh, hi, Asahi. Is everything okay?”

  
He got serious again. “There’s been an animal attack in the library at Karasuno. Another first-year. Daichi and Suga are getting Tanaka.”

  
“I’m on my way.”


	6. You Have Been Formally Invited

The upperclassmen arrived at the library before Noya and Kageyama had returned, and Yachi got anxious again about them not calling an ambulance and not letting her get her phone.

  
“Now is as good a moment as any, isn’t it?” Suga nodded in agreement, and Daichi lowered himself to meet Yachi’s eyes. She was looking at all of them as terrified as if she was looking at the wolf that had attacked her. Well, she was looking at more werewolves, but she didn’t know that yet. “Maybe you should take this one. I think she’s scared of me.”

  
“I think she’s scared of everything,” Suga answered in a whisper before smiling at her. “Yachi, is it? I’m going to tell you what’s going on. It’s going to sound like a prank, but I promise you, it’s not. So you just try to stay calm and listen to me, okay?”

  
She passed out twice.

  
. . .

  
Just like Hinata and the other freshly turned werewolves, she accepted that everything was true surprisingly fast. It’s hard to dismiss fangs and glowing eyes as tricks when you watch them happen up close.

  
Her bleeding was already stopping, and it looked like the bite was settling in for her, but Kiyoko still offered to house her for the night, to make sure everything went well. Yachi said to spend the night at hers instead, since her mother was out on a work trip, and they didn’t have to hide the wound.

  
As soon as Daichi suggested searching for Noya and Kageyama, they walked into the library. “We’ve got company.”

  
“You found the alpha?”

  
“Much better! I found them.” A shock of bright red hair appeared at the door, towering over even Kageyama. Yachi screamed. “Always nice to meet a fan!”

  
“Sorry! You scared me!”

  
“Thank you, I try.” His eyes danced around the pack, coming to rest on Daichi. “Sawamura! Just the guy I was looking for. You look better in pictures. I never see you in the meetings! Not one for politics, huh? Well, I should introduce myself.”

  
“I know who you are.”

  
“You do? Oh, that feels good.” He clapped for himself. “Who else knows who I am?” Only Suga raised his hand. “Dammit. Now I made myself sad.” He pouted. “Anyway! I’m Tendou Satori, from Shiratorizawa. Nice seeing everyone. Ushijima would like to formally invite you to a private meeting. Bring the kids. Oh, and stop turning children into werewolves! The other packs are getting nervous.”

  
“I’m not turning anyone.”

  
“So how come you’ve collected three new wolves in a couple of weeks?” He looked at Yachi, who jumped up in fear again. “Four now, I guess. This looks extremely bad for you, by the way. You do remember you are kinda sworn to secrecy, don’t you? Biting people in the middle of your high school’s library is not very subtle.”

  
“It wasn’t him!” Yachi’s brave outburst ended as soon as Tendou’s eyes were back on her.

  
“Who was it, then?”

  
“I don’t know. It was a wolf.”

  
He looked back at Daichi. “So those two first-years weren’t lying?”

  
“I’m a second-year!”

  
Tendou ignored Noya. “There’s a shifter on the loose?”

  
“We’ve been trying to find out who it is.”

  
“Why not come to us?”

  
Daichi shrugged. “It’s my territory, my responsibility. I wanted to have more information before bothering you. Aren’t you guys busy?”

  
“Of course we’re busy. But this is our business too. It’s your territory because we trusted you and your pack with it, but if it gets out of your control, we’ll have to step in.”

  
“It’s not out of my control.”

  
“When’s the meeting?” Suga interjected, smiling in a way that, by now, Hinata understood to be a veiled threat.

  
“Tomorrow night, ten o’clock. We’ll let you know the safehouse half an hour before. Don’t be late.”

  
. . .

  
“I have a question.”

  
“What is it, Hinata?”

  
“How come so many werewolves play volleyball?”

  
“Oh, man.” Noya turned to Daichi, who was checking his phone and pacing around the gym. “Hey, Daichi! Why are all werewolves volleyball players?”

  
He raised an eyebrow. “They aren’t?”

  
“Then why is it that every werewolf I know is in a volleyball team?”

  
“You… don’t know many werewolves?”

  
“Oh, right.” He turned back to Hinata. “Does that answer your question?”

  
“Not really.”

  
Daichi’s phone buzzed. The team got on the move.

  
The safehouse was pretty close to Karasuno High School, and they arrived with fifteen minutes to spare. The entire volleyball team plus Kiyoko and Yachi were there, and Daichi checked the address one last time, knocked, and waited.

  
The previous night had gone alright, and Yachi’s wound had healed without a trace, but there was just one little problem. They couldn’t get her to turn into a werewolf and, try as they might, not even Noya, who had the keenest senses in the pack, could smell or feel any indication that she was one.

  
“Listen, newbies are really bad at hiding their scents. I don’t know how, but she just… isn’t. She’s human.”

  
“She survived the bite.”

  
“She’s not a werewolf, Daichi.”

  
“Then what is she?”

  
She had tried to stay home, not wanting to see Tendou or any other scary werewolves (she decided the Karasuno weren’t scary after all), but the invitation had been more of an order so Yachi, along with the other new additions to the pack, didn’t really have a choice in the matter.

  
“Welcome, welcome!” Tendou opened the door, and Hinata steadied Yachi, who had stepped back from the surprise, bumping into him. “Oh, blondie. You’re so funny! Come in!”

  
Kiyoko took Yachi’s hand, and the younger girl clung to it like a lifesaver in the middle of the open ocean.

  
The safehouse was in the basement of a music store. It was a big space with no decorations, just a round table in the middle and many chairs, mostly stacked up against the walls. By the time it was Hinata’s turn to come out of the narrow stairwell and into the room, Daichi was already sitting at that table, speaking with the leader of the Shiratorizawa pack.

  
“Oh, man. He’s so cool,” he said under his breath, and Kageyama turned to him, sour-faced.

  
“If you embarrass us in front if Ushijima Wakatoshi I will never set another ball for you for the rest of high school.”

  
“Sorry. He’s just so cool!”

  
“Cut it out, dorks,” Tanaka warned them in a too-loud whisper. Daichi turned slightly to the side. He didn’t even make eye contact, but Tanaka raised a hand up to his head as if he had already been smacked.

  
“Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Hinata and Yachi. Come here, please.”

  
The four first years stepped to the front of the group. Well, Yachi was trying to hide behind Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, but they misunderstood it as her trying to make a space for herself between them, and they let her pass, taking away her cover.

  
“Welcome,” Ushijima started, “I am the leader of the Shiratorizawa, and the head of the packs of the Miyagi prefecture. You have all come face to face with this shifter, correct?” They nodded. “I would like to know what you saw.”

  
“We’ve already told Daichi,” said Tsukishima, sounding bored as always. “It just looks like a big wolf. We don’t know anything else.”

  
“I did not say I wanted you to tell me. I said I want to know.” He looked at the four kids, stopping on Yachi. “This is the one that is not a werewolf?” Daichi nodded.

  
“Careful, she scares easy!” said Tendou from behind Yachi. She yelped and tried to run away, crashing into Daichi, who intercepted her to keep her from crashing into Ushijima.

  
“Tendou, if you cannot behave, you will go wait outside.”

  
“Sorry, Wakatoshi-kun!” He was still cracking up as he walked to stand behind Ushijima. “I love this girl. She’s so entertaining.”

  
“I got it,” said Kiyoko, holding her hand out for Yachi. She hugged Kiyoko instead, hiding her face on the senior’s arm. “It’s okay. He’s just messing with you.”

  
“Would it make you more comfortable if he was not here?” Yachi nodded without turning around. “Tendou, go wait upstairs.”

  
“But-“

  
“Go.” His eyes lit up red. Tendou’s lit up in response. His were blue.

  
“I’m just trying to toughen her up! She’ll be thanking me one day!”

  
When he disappeared up the stairs, Ushijima continued. “I apologize on his behalf. As I was saying, there is a method by which I can know what you saw. You do not have to agree to it, but it could help prevent more attacks.”

  
“I’ll do it!” said Hinata, stepping forward. Then, he hesitated. “Does it hurt?”

  
“Yes.”

  
Hinata shoulders slumped. “Why didn’t you say that it doesn’t?”

  
“Because that would be lying?”

  
“I’ll do it.” Tsukishima stepped forward, rolling his eyes, and Hinata squared up.

  
“I said I’d do it! I’m not scared!”

  
“Nobody said you were.”

  
“Enough.” Daichi took out a chair and gestured. “Hinata, sit.”

  
It did hurt, really bad. Ushijima explained what he was going to do before doing it, but knowing didn’t help at all. In fact, it was worse. Every time Hinata felt his hand get close to the back of his neck, his body would recoil forward of its own accord. Daichi had to hold him in place. And once the claws where in, then it hurt like hell.


	7. With A Little Help From A Bunch Of Strangers

All four of them went through it, but the results were… frustrating.

  
“The bad news is that I do not recognize that wolf,” Ushijima admitted. “The good news is that shifting is a very rare ability. I will ask around.”

  
“Nishinoya is sure that he has come across the scent left on the library before, but he can’t place it.” Daichi crossed his arms. “If you have trackers, you could send them to the library, see if they can find anything.”

  
“After a full day of classes? There will not be any scent left, and if you cleaned the scene of the bite like you should have, there should be nothing at all left to find.”

  
“We did.” Daichi clenched his jaw at the accusation. It didn’t even sound like one, it was said matter-of-factly, but Ushijima had a way of conveying slight disappointment in anything he said. “Is there anything else?”

  
“You have another new addition, do you not?” At his nod, he looked straight at Kageyama. “You found a new pack.”

  
“Yes.” He walked to the front as the other first-years melted back into the group.

  
“I am glad to hear that.” Ushijima started to turn around, but Kageyama spoke.

  
“You know what happened, right?” He didn’t flinch at the look in Daichi’s face. He was staring at the taller alpha. “Do you know why Oikawa hates me? Because I’d like to know.”

  
“I apologize,” intervened Daichi, but Ushijima shook his head.

  
“He does not hate you. He is… afraid of you. Jealous. And he does not make good choices under pressure.”

  
“Why would he be afraid of me? He was the one who turned me!”

  
“Oikawa turned you because he saw the potential in you, but he got more than he bargained for. He saw a flicker of red in your eyes once. He panicked.”

  
A murmur went through the crowd. Kageyama’s mouth kept opening and closing, grasping for words. Suga spoke them for him. “He could become a true alpha?”

  
“Maybe.”

  
“Not anymore.” Kageyama was shaking, burning with fury. “Right? Am I ruined? Was he the one who told Kindaichi? Did he orchestrate it?”

  
“I do not think he would do something like that. I think he just saw his chance the drive you out of his pack. Like I said, he does not react well under pressure.”

  
“He made me kill!”

  
“Calm down.” Kageyama still wouldn’t look at Daichi.

  
“He did not. And he did not make you bite that boy, either. You both made your choices. It was a shame, what happened, but it was an accident.”

  
“He killed to become an alpha, didn’t he? That’s why he hated me. Because he couldn’t bear the thought that I might become one without having to kill like him.”

  
“Oikawa never wanted to be an alpha. Oikawa was turned by an alpha that wanted young boys he could raise as his personal army.” He paused for a moment. “I was afraid what is happening now might be history repeating itself. I am still not sure it is not. But this was years ago, a different alpha. Oikawa put up with it for a while, until the alpha tried to turn his best friend, too.”

  
“Iwaizumi?”

  
Ushijima nodded. “The bite started rejecting him. He was not the first boy Oikawa had seen fall to the bite, but he was not just any boy. So he went berserk. His alpha was overconfident, and Oikawa tore him apart. He killed him and held Iwaizumi while the pack waited for a word from their new alpha. He told them to leave and stayed with him, taking away as much pain as he could on top of his own wounds. They said their goodbyes. But Iwaizumi survived.” Kageyama didn’t speak. “So no, I do not believe he wanted what happened to your friend to happen. We all make mistakes sometimes. I have a lot to think about, people to talk to. Let me show you out.”

  
Daichi and the pack followed him back up the stairs. Tendou was sitting on a table, singing softly, headphones pushing his hair back.

  
“I will be in touch.”

  
“Thank you. I’ll update you if anything comes up.” Daichi and Ushijima shook hands.

  
“You can use the number that I messaged you from earlier. I will send a text next time, instead of having Tendou creep around.”

  
“But I love creeping!”

  
“I know you do.”

  
The Karasuno stepped out into the cold night air one by one. Tendou wiggled his fingers at Yachi in farewell. She held tight to Kiyoko and walked faster.

  
. . .

  
“Wait, who was with your little sister last night?” asked Kageyama during warm up.

  
“My parents decided to get a nanny because I always get home so late from ‘volleyball practice’.” Hinata had a revelation and smiled wide, making Kageyama’s frown grow deeper. “Wait, you asked about my sister! You care about me!”

  
“No, I don’t! You’re just always so annoying with how your sister needs to be looked after that it surprised me that you didn’t talk about it last night! Shut up!”

  
“Hinata, Kageyama! Will you shut up and stop fighting for once?”

  
“Sorry, Coach Ukai.”

  
“Two laps around the gym and then you can come back in! Chop, chop!”

  
“I’m gonna win,” announced Kageyama, holding Hinata down as he stood up.

  
“No way! That’s cheating!”

  
“And that’s losing!”

  
Hinata made up the difference, tripping Kageyama from behind. He didn’t fall, but Coach Ukai saw it all the same. “Make it five laps! Please, keep testing me!”

  
Practice that day was a mock match, and Ukai put Hinata and Kageyama in different teams. The match was ruthless.

  
When it was finally over, the seniors made their usual promise, and the adults left. But, when they were pairing up for the hour of torment that would follow, the doors reopened.

  
“Coach Ukai?” Daichi stepped forward, his face perfectly composed. “Did you forget something?”

  
“Cut the crap.” He pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “It has come to my attention that there’s a stray werewolf running around town. I’m here to help.”

  
Everyone looked at their captain. He didn’t move a muscle. “Who are you?”

  
“I’m a druid. Kind of. It’s like a coach, but for supernatural people. That’s who I am.”

  
“Did Ushijima send you? I thought Mr. Takeda brought you in.”

  
“He did. I already knew that you boys were a pack, but I noticed your recent growth, so when he asked me to coach you, I accepted so I could keep an eye on you.”

  
“Why you?”

  
“My grandfather was Karasuno’s coach for years, and I played here, years ago. And he was also a druid. He was the one who taught me, but not for long.” He sighed. “He doesn’t want anything to do with this anymore. But he got a call from Ushijima and told me about it, casually. Like he didn’t want me to get involved. Damned old man. Anyway, do you want my help or not?”

  
“Yes! Of course.”

  
“Well, I’m not much help right now. But I do know someone who could help me help you.” He gave them a smirk. “Tell your parents. You’re going on a school trip to Tokyo this weekend.”

  
. . .

  
“For the last time, Tanaka, that’s not the Sky Tree. Stop asking. I’ll tell you when we see it.” Suga was on the verge of tears, trying to muffle his laugh while Daichi scolded him.

  
An old man greeted them outside the Nekoma High dorm, showed them to their rooms for the next two nights and disappeared with their coach. Kiyoko and Yachi had one for themselves, the boys were in the one next door, and the adults would be sharing a third. Mr. Takeda went to his to unpack, giving them a while to settle in before dinner.

  
“Is that the Sky Tree?” Hinata pointed at a transmission tower through the window. Tanaka ran to check it out.

  
“Oh, dude, I think it is!”

  
“I give up,” muttered Daichi, shaking his head. “I’m done.”

  
The door slid open and the lights went out. By the dim glow of the streetlights outside, Hinata could see frantic movement, a group of people dispersing through the room. One of the shorter figures ran up to him, tackled him to the floor. Yellow eyes shone in the darkness.

  
“You really have become a pathetic pack,” said a deep voice. “I hope you’re not this bad at volleyball.”

  
The lights came back on. His attacker let go of him and helped Hinata back to his feet. It was a boy with long blond hair and overgrown dark roots. “You’re really short.”

  
“I… know?”

  
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  
“Daichi, is it? I’m Kuroo, the leader of the Nekoma pack.” He offered him a hand. “Welcome to my territory.”

  
“Was that necessary?”

  
“No, but it was fun,” said Tanaka. Wait, that wasn’t Tanaka. Tanaka was still struggling with the guy that had spoken, who looked like an even more dangerous Tanaka with a blond mohawk.

  
“I’m gonna kick your ass!”

  
“I’d like to see you try!”

  
“God, there’s two of them,” Tsukishima muttered, making Yamaguchi laugh.

  
“I just wanted to check you guys out before dinner,” said Kuroo. “We have a lot to talk about.”


	8. Let’s Get Down To Business

Hinata really enjoyed dinner. The blond kid who had tackled him, Kenma, was a quiet guy who lit up when Hinata asked about the videogame he was playing, and they ended up talking all through the evening.

  
Not everyone made friends with their hosts as easily, though. Tanaka and his new nemesis Yamamoto kept sneakily throwing food at each other, and Daichi and Kuroo just exchanged polite words laced with venom while Suga and their libero, Yaku, tried to keep the peace. After, they went out for some late evening ‘volleyball practice’.

  
“We’ll talk here,” Kuroo announced, gesturing to the empty gym. “Make yourselves at home.”

  
“Are we waiting for someone?” asked Daichi, not bothering to hide the disdain in his voice.

  
“As a matter of fact, yes,” the other alpha answered with a grin. “You are in our territory, but you still have to pay your respects to the head of the Tokyo packs. He’ll be here any minute.”

  
“He’ll be here RIGHT NOW!” A voice boomed from the open door, where the spiky-haired silhouette of a guy could be seen, arms up in the air, as if expecting a roar of applause. “Akaashi, they didn’t clap!”

  
“I told you,” said a second voice that materialized into a dark-haired, tired-looking boy. “Hey.”

  
“Hey,” Kuroo greeted him back. “Nice entrance, bro!”

  
“Don’t ‘bro’ me! You should have clapped for me!” The first guy walked into the gym. His grey haired seemed to deflate with his mood, and he approached the gathered werewolves dragging his feet. “I thought you were my friend!”

  
Kuroo turned to Akaashi. “Bad day?”

  
“It’s been touch-and-go.”

  
“So, what is going on in Sendai, guys? I’ve been hearing some wild stuff!”

  
“I’m sorry, you are…?”

  
“Bokuto Kotaro.” He took Daichi’s hand and shook it energetically, and Hinata could have sworn his hair looked more spiky than seconds before. “Leader of the Fukurodani pack, head of the Tokyo packs, blah, blah, blah. Daichi, right? Catch me up, man!” Daichi took a second to recover from his bulldozing personality, and then began to bring their new acquaintances up to speed. “That’s insane, bro! Did you hear that, Akaashi? We only get hunters around here. I want to have an evil alpha to catch!”

  
“There are hunters here?” asked Yachi, then immediately tried to hide behind Kiyoko when everyone turned to look at her. “I’m sorry I asked! Please, stop looking at me!”

  
“I have it all under control, sweetheart,” said Bokuto, puffing out his chest. “Nothing to worry about. You are safe here.”

  
“Bokuto Kotaro…” whispered Hinata. “You are one of the top three high school volleyball players in Japan!”

  
“Why, yes, I am!”

  
“Didn’t you drop to top five?”

  
“Kuroo, please…” Akaashi slowly shook his head.

  
“I want to play against you! Will you come train with us this weekend?”

  
“Hinata, don’t be rude,” said Daichi.

  
“Sorry! Will you please come train with us this weekend, Bokuto-senpai?”

  
“I love this kid! Akaashi! Can we keep him?”

  
“He probably has parents.”

  
“We are way cooler than your parents, kid. Wanna stay with us?”

  
“Uh… No, sir, I’m fine.”

  
“He called me ‘sir’! Akaashi, he called me ‘sir’!”

  
“I heard him.”

  
“You should call me ‘sir’ more often!”

  
“No, thank you.”

  
. . .

  
“And you fell on your ass?”

  
“He came out of nowhere, okay?” Noya rolled his eyes while they laughed at him. “I didn't even smell him, and we were looking for a violent, shifter alpha. Sorry that I have a survival instinct!”

  
“A survival instinct… to fall on your ass?”

  
“Stop making fun of him,” said Asahi, rubbing Noya’s shoulders.

  
Some of the Karasuno and most of the Nekoma pack had left already to go to sleep, so only a few remained in the gym, hashing out everything that had been going on those last few weeks.

  
“It’s not his fault!“ added Yachi. “He keeps scaring me! He’s the worst.”

  
“Bro, I miss Tendou. He’s hilarious.”

  
“I know, bro!”

  
“Do you know why his eyes are blue?” The laughing stopped, and both Kuroo and Bokuto turned to Hinata.

  
“See? I’m right to be freaked out. He’s dangerous.” She looked to Kageyama, and then to her shoes. Color rose to her face. “I mean... or not. I don’t- Forget what I said.”

  
“I don’t think he’s dangerous,” said Kuroo, not sounding smug for the first time since Hinata had met him, “but I don’t know the story. Felt rude to ask.”

  
“I do!”

  
“I specifically asked you to not ask him.” Akaashi rubbed the sides of his forehead.

  
“… You did?”

  
“I said ‘Bokuto-san, please don’t ask him about it’. Remember?”

  
“Uh… maybe…”

  
“And you said ‘yeah, right, no, of course I won’t’. Remember that?”

  
“I… do…” Akaashi shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

  
“You’re exhausting.”

  
“Do you forgive me?”

  
“Sure.”

  
“Kiss to prove it?” He puckered his lips and leaned towards him. “Kissy-kiss to prove you forgive me?” Akaashi gave him a peck on the lips, and Bokuto jumped to a height that made even Hinata jealous. “Hey, hey, hey!”

  
“I forgive you too, bro.”

  
Bokuto gasped and closed his eyes, leaning in for another kiss. He opened them up right back up when he felt his lips land on a cold, flat surface.

  
“Stay away from those lips,” muttered Kenma, separating his videogame console from Bokuto’s face. “Ew.”

  
He cleaned the saliva left on it against Kuroo’s sleeve. “Hey, gross!”

  
“There’s your kiss.”

  
“So… what did he do?” asked Hinata, lifting the collar of his jacket to hide his blush.

  
“Who?”

  
“Tendou?”

  
“Oh! When he was younger, kids used to pick on him because of his looks. Said he looked scary, called him a monster. It got really bad. One day, two boys from his pack corralled him, tried to throw him out of a window. He was half-in, half-out, trying to hold on while fighting them off, and one kid ended up falling. He must have pushed him in the struggle or something, because his eyes turned blue. The other boy ran away from him, and Tendou ran away from the pack.”

  
“Wow,” was all Hinata could say. “That… that’s awful.”

  
“How about we go to sleep, Yachi?” asked Kiyoko softly, throwing an arm around her shoulders. “Good night, everyone.”

  
“Good night, my sweet Kiyoko!”

  
“Have nice dreams, beautiful manager!”

  
“Don’t you dare talk to her, you brush-looking asshole!”

  
“Yeah, Tanaka, you tell him!”

  
Daichi cracked his knuckles. Kuroo cleared his throat.

  
“Good night, Kiyoko, Yachi,” said the first. The rest echoed him with equally polite and appropriate farewells. Hinata saw the tears streaming silently down Yachi’s face.

  
. . .

  
The weekend was grueling. Practice sets all throughout the day, free practice in the evenings. Bokuto didn’t turn up, but Hinata was too busy learning from their new friends to be too sad about it.

  
When they arrived at Karasuno High, Coach Ukai and the team said goodbye to the teacher as he left to return the rented bus, and went into the gym for a talk. Although the topic was a little different from the one they told Mr. Takeda.

  
“You will bring me anything you have that could have come in contact with the alpha,” he said, “Asahi, your trousers.”

  
“I already fixed them up and washed them. Will they still work?”

  
“No idea. I’ll try. Hinata, whatever clothes you were wearing that night. Yachi, Yamaguchi and Tsukishima, same goes for you.”

  
“I threw mine out,” said Yachi. “It was all covered in blood.”

  
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ll see if it works with the other items. I’ve never done this spell before, so it could all go nowhere anyway. Bring the stuff to school tomorrow. After practice, I’ll make as if I was going home until Takeda has no reason to suspect we’re up to anything weird, and then I’ll come back.”

  
“Are we doing the spell here?” asked Daichi.

  
“I don’t know,” said Ukai. “It feels too unprotected. I don’t like it.”

  
“Not here.” Suga took a notebook out of his bag. “It’s not a plan yet, but I have an idea.”

  
. . .

  
Once they had made sure the school was empty except for them, the two alphas laid out their plan. The spell would be performed in the chemistry lab, which had space, equipment, and, most importantly, only one way in, but two exits. Asahi and Yachi would also stay in the lab, along with Noya, Tanaka and Kiyoko for protection. The rest would patrol different areas in pairs, except for Daichi, who would be making rounds to check in with them.

  
Hinata and anyone who also had to drop things off went downstairs to the lab first. After everyone wished each other luck, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Kageyama and Hinata made their way back to the main floor.

  
“Be careful, guys!” said Yamaguchi before they parted for their respective areas.

  
“You too!”

  
“Do you need help finding the library? I assume, by your grades, that you’ve never been there. It’s the big room with books.”

  
“Shut up, Tsukishima!”

  
“Or…?”

  
Hinata tugged on Kageyama’s sleeve. “Ignore him.”

  
“You make being paired up with Hinata seem less annoying by comparison!”

  
“I didn't even do anything this time!”


	9. Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe

Hinata and Kageyama paced around the bookcases, taking turns to check the hallway that led to the library. The initial excitement Hinata had felt for going on a secret werewolf mission was dying out, quickly. Nothing was happening. Just a bunch of books and Kageyama, appearing now and then behind a bookshelf, giving him the same sour face he always reserved for him.

  
Two different ringtones broke the silence. They checked their phones.

> YAMAGUCHI: we heard steps. heading to the cafeteria
> 
> DAICHI: narita, kinoshita, back them up

  
“Oh, no. Kageyama, did you read that?”

  
“I’m literally looking at my screen right now. What do you think?”

  
“Jeez. I’m sorry I asked.”

  
“Moron.”

  
. . .

  
Yamaguchi kept looking behind him, to his sides, jumping at his own shadow.

  
“It’s probably nothing,” said Tsuki, stopping before the cafeteria door. It wasn’t closed properly, and there were mud tracks leading in. One of them was clearly a pawprint.

  
“No, no, no. Let’s wait for the upperclassmen.”

  
“Be quiet,” he whispered. “Let’s just try to find him. We don’t need to engage, just have eyes on him.”

  
Yamaguchi grabbed the back of his jacket instinctively and followed him in. The familiar soft material was reassuring for him, and as long as he had Tsuki with him, he would feel at least somewhat safe.

  
Before he could even finish the thought, he lost his grip on the jacket and fell on his back.

  
He regained his footing. The wolf that had attacked him barely two weeks ago, had left him terrified and bleeding on the street, was pinning Tsuki under its massive weight.

  
“Tsuki!”

  
The blond growled, transforming into his werewolf self, and Yamaguchi followed. With a roar, the alpha turned Tsuki back to human. Yamaguchi broke into a run, ready to pounce. The alpha looked at him with its demon-red eyes and let out another roar.

  
Yamaguchi felt every fiber of his being wanting to revert back, to submit to the order of the alpha that bit him. But then he caught sight of Tsuki, struggling in the floor, blood dripping down the side of his face from a cut on his eyebrow.

  
“Get off him!” He barked, tackling it with all the strength he could muster.

  
The wolf and the boy rolled away until they hit a wall. The alpha spoke in a hellish voice. _“I made you.”_

  
Faster than Yamaguchi could react, he felt the pinprick of claws resting against his throat. But that lasted only a second. When he looked behind the beast, Tsuki was there, holding the alpha’s forearm back.

  
“I’m going to tear you apart limb by limb.”

  
In another blur of dark fur, it shook them both off, making a run for the hallway.

  
“Tadashi! Are you hurt?”

  
“No.” Yamaguchi pushed himself up, sitting against the wall. “Are you? Kei?”

  
“I’m fine.” He swiped at the half-dried blood on his face. “It’s healing.”

  
“Kei? Are you crying?”

  
“No.” His shoulders shook. “You’re crying.”

  
“I am,” laughed Yamaguchi. He pulled him in for a hug. Tsuki fell to his knees and embraced him.

  
. . .

> KINOSHITA: first years attacked but okay, alpha going north

  
“Oh, no. Kageyama-“

  
He shushed him and pointed at the bookshelves closer to the entrance. He took left, so Hinata went behind the right one. At first he could only hear their breaths, but then a third one came from the door. In silent steps, the alpha was approaching their location.

  
Kageyama raised a hand. The wolf’s shadow broke the perfect rectangle of light coming from the hallway. He gestured to wait, then jump. They would try to hold down the alpha once it reached their position. Hinata swallowed and waited.

  
The shadow got bigger and bigger, and then it disappeared to the right.

  
“Hinata, get out of there!”

  
Hinata jumped, but not fast enough. He felt the bookcase crash against his hip, and he started falling under its weight. Then, he felt himself be pulled towards the main corridor, and he landed on Kageyama.

  
“Get up! Get up!”

  
They got back to their feet, tried to find the alpha, but the bookcases on the main floor were twice as tall as him.

  
“Out.” Kageyama grabbed him by the neck of his jacket. “Out of here.”

  
They turned towards the one and only close exit, but there it was.

  
 _“Where is the druid?”_ His voice froze Hinata’s blood. _“Where is Ukai?”_

  
“What do you want with him?” Kageyama’s voice was deeper now, too. Hinata took his lead and transformed.

  
 _“I’m getting tired of this.”_ He reared back, readying for an attack.

  
Kageyama gripped his arm with an iron fist and led him into the corridors of books. “Isn’t this exactly where we don’t want to be?”

  
“We have to lose him! We can get to an exit in the upper floor!”

  
The alpha was much faster than them. He appeared at the end of their way, and they turned on their heels. And then, Hinata saw in Kageyama’s eyes that they had just fallen into a trap.

  
Still holding tight to his wrist, he tried to pull him towards the bookshelf opposite to the one the alpha was going to push on them, but the first books started falling too soon. A hardcover hit Hinata on the head, and his vision went black for a second. He could only hear the roar of the pages flying, the loud noise of the next bookcase tipping and hitting the next one in a domino effect, and Kageyama’s strangled groan.

  
“ _Where. Is. The druid._ ”

  
Hinata didn’t speak. His vision was back, but he couldn’t see much. The shelves had backing, so no light was coming in. There was only a sliver of yellow, coming from the triangle between the two pieces of furniture and the floor. Kageyama was holding his breath. Hinata tried to calm himself down and do the same.

  
The alpha let out a roar of frustration and left towards the direction they had tried to head in.

  
“Can you move?” asked Kageyama after a prudential time.

  
“No. I’m trapped.”

  
“I’m trapped too.”

  
“I got trapped first.”

  
“I swear to God if we survive tonight, Hinata, you won’t.”

  
Hinata started laughing. His cackling turned into sobbing. His whole body hurt, he couldn’t move an inch, and he was very, very scared. “I’m sorry about what happened to you, and I’m sorry I made you tell everyone. I should have dropped it. I’m so sorry.”

  
Hinata thought he wasn’t going to respond, but in the end, he did. “I’m sorry about how I treated you.” Kageyama’s breath hitched. “And I’m sorry that I am so afraid of getting hurt again that I try to be the one to hurt first.”

  
“And I’m sorry that I didn’t record this for the next time that you two fight.” An angel’s voice, cutting through the darkness. “Ennoshita, now!”

  
Light came back, and Hinata shook the books off of him, desperate to be able to move again.

  
“Let me see.” Suga looked them up and down, then turned them around. “Pain anywhere? I don’t see blood.”

  
“I’m fine,” mumbled Kageyama, wiping at his eyes. “It went upstairs.”

  
. . .

> SUGA: alpha in the upper floor
> 
> SUGA: kageyama and hinata okay
> 
> SUGA: its looking for ukai
> 
> SUGA: itll take the main stairway down
> 
> SUGA: get out through the emergency exit
> 
> KIYOKO: on it
> 
> SUGA: block the door
> 
> SUGA: lets trap him in the lab
> 
> SUGA: daichi meet us or narita and kinoshita
> 
> KINOSHITA: on our way
> 
> SUGA: dont go alone

  
“You two can stay here.”

  
Hinata got up. “I can go.”

  
“Me too.”

  
They shot out of the library. Kinoshita, Narita, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi arrived at the main stairwell at the same time as them.

  
“Should we wait for Daichi or split?” asked Ennoshita.

  
“We saw him on his way to the library before Suga texted,” Narita said, shaking his head. “He would have been the first one to get here.”

  
Suga jumped the stairs, landing against the wall and changing his direction for the next leap, feet never touching the floor. He disappeared from their sight before they had time to process.

  
They all ran. Hinata fell behind, the taller kids able to go down four or five steps at a time easily. When he got to the chemistry lab, the others were standing frozen, blocking his way. He squeezed himself through Kageyama and Tsukishima.

  
Daichi was lying on the floor, his back to them. He wasn’t moving. Suga had taken his jacket off and Hinata watched, holding his breath, as he pressed it against the captain’s chest, rolling him onto his back. His torso was a mess of blood and torn cloth, but it was rising and falling weakly.

  
“Go! The others!” Suga’s words kept crashing into one another. “Stairs! Go!”

  
Hinata was the first to run this time. He pushed the bar of the emergency door and started climbing the steps. There was red all over the floor, claw marks on the walls. A glimmer, there. Kiyoko’s glasses.

  
He picked them up on the way and finally got to the second emergency door. The bar was slick with blood. Hinata felt the chill air of the night against his sweat-covered skin.

The alpha was nowhere to be found.


	10. It’s Always Darkest Before The Dawn

“Hinata!” shouted Yachi from the middle of the schoolyard. She was kneeling over Kiyoko’s legs. She sounded scared, but she wasn’t crying. “I think she’s really hurt!”

  
Asahi was sitting behind Kiyoko, her head resting against his chest. He was rolling his shoulder like it hurt, and he had splotches and handprints of blood on his face and t-shirt, but he seemed to be fine.

  
Hinata sprinted the distance between them, the rest of the pack at his heels. Kiyoko was trying to keep herself from groaning, and Yachi lifted the sweater she was holding to her thigh. A perfect three-clawed scratch, bleeding profusely. When Kiyoko tried to look down at it, Asahi brought a hand to her chin and turned her face to the waning moon.

  
“Did it work? Do you know who the alpha is?”

  
Asahi shook his head. “Ukai couldn’t finish the spell. It was all for nothing.”

  
“Here.” Hinata handed Kiyoko the pair of glasses uselessly. She took them, smearing blood on his fingers, and put them on. One of the glasses had a bloody fingerprint. The other, little droplets of blood, as if they had rained from the sky.

  
“Thank you,” she whispered, those two words an immense effort. She pointed into the distance.

  
“Tanaka and Noya went after it,” explained Asahi, “that way. I… I couldn’t keep up.”

  
“We’ll be back,” Ennoshita assured them before taking off in that direction.

  
Hinata and the rest followed him, and not even a minute of running had passed before they spotted them. It was the same corner they had stopped at the day Hinata met Noya and Asahi, where he stood with Kageyama while the libero so vivaciously told them about his first run-in with the alpha.

  
He wasn’t standing now. He was on the ground, crumpled like a rag doll in Tanaka’s arms.

  
“Dammit, Noya, wake up!”

  
Something about watching the toughest guy Hinata had ever seen crying uncontrollably made him falter. The others didn’t. He was the last to arrive and, this time, he really wished he hadn’t made his way through his teammates.

  
The right side of Noya’s face was completely covered in blood. His little blond tuft of hair had turned red. A bruise was forming all around the side of his skull and his undereye was swelling up. And among the wet mess of blood and hair, Hinata could see a slash of pink above his ear, with a hint of white running through the middle. Bone.

  
“Tanaka, let go!”

  
He was too worked up to hear Ennoshita, but when the other second-years started pulling on him, he realized they were there and allowed himself to be dragged away. Ennoshita got to work. “He’s breathing. Where’s Ukai?”

  
Tanaka let out a feral scream. “It got him. We couldn’t stop it, and we couldn’t follow it.” He swiped at his nose with his sleeve. “He knows. Noya knows who it is. That’s why it tried to kill him.”

  
“Who is it?”

  
“I don’t know. Shit!” Tanaka punched a streetlight. It dented. “Noya just told me that he had finally recognized the scent. The alpha smashed his head on the ground before he could say it.” He turned sharply. “Kiyoko and Daichi are hurt. Did you find them?”

  
“Yes,” said Kageyama, “we should regroup. Strategize.”

  
“We shouldn’t move him right now,” Ennoshita said softly, pressing both sides of the cut on Noya’s head closed with his fingers, “and the alpha got what it wanted. I think we have a second to catch our breath.”

  
“Ukai is in danger!”

  
“If it wanted him dead, he’d be dead. If it took him is because it wants him alive.” A groan came from below his chin. Eight heads looked down at once. “Noya! Don’t move.”

  
“Takeda…”

  
“I’m Ennoshita. You hit your head really hard, stop moving! And you, be careful!” he yelled at Tanaka, who had run to kneel beside Noya.

  
“No,” Noya looked at Tanaka, one of his eyes almost completely swollen shut, “it’s Takeda. Takeda is the alpha.”

  
. . .

  
“I never realized. I’m sorry that I failed you.”

  
“Don’t say that, boss! None of us saw it coming!”

  
“I couldn’t protect anyone. I’m sorry.”

  
“Stop it.” Suga looked paler than ever, and his usual air of calm was gone. When they had found him and Daichi with Kiyoko and the rest, he had been holding onto both of their hands, taking their pain. “Stop apologizing for things that aren’t your fault and start thinking about what to do next.”

  
“We have to rescue Coach Ukai.”

  
“Yes, Hinata.” Daichi started to stand up. Suga went to stop him, ended up helping him. He managed to raise. “There has to be a trail. Whether it’s blood on the ground or just the scent of the alpha, or of Ukai. There isn’t much wind tonight. We should be able to find it.”

  
Hinata felt his spirits rise up along with his captain. His torn shirt revealed the healing claw wounds on his chest and stomach. Noya’s face was also improving with supernatural speed, but Kiyoko’s leg didn’t look much better than when they had first found her. As Daichi had explained, wounds inflicted by an alpha on non-alphas were not as quick to heal.

  
“You might have to sit this one out.”

  
“Yes, you should rest. Asahi, you’re staying with her.”

  
“What?” He looked torn between not wanting to be a bad friend to Kiyoko and not wanting to let Noya go without him. “You sit it out too. I don’t want to lose sight of you again tonight.”

  
“I’m perfectly fine,” said Noya unconvincingly, “and I want to see his stupid face when he realizes that he couldn’t kill me and that we found him out anyway!”

  
“Let’s go.” Daichi tugged on Suga’s hand, and he stood next to him. With his other hand, he locked his phone screen and put it back into his pocket. “Let’s go find our coach.”

  
. . .

  
“They aren’t coming.”

  
“Of course they are.”

  
Ukai scoffed, testing his bounds again. If only he could get his leg close enough to his hands to grab the blade hidden there, he would be able to surprise Takeda and get to cover. His jars of mountain ash were laughing at him from the shelf, and he cursed himself for letting his flexibility from his volleyball years go to waste.

  
“May I ask to what do I owe the pleasure of hosting you here in my humble storage room?”

  
“You don’t know who I am, do you?”

  
“I’m guessing ‘high school teacher slash clueless volleyball club faculty advisor’ isn’t your main gig?”

  
Takeda laughed one of his usual laughs. It didn’t seem right that he could still sound that normal after revealing himself to be the bad guy. “It is now. But I did have other things going on for me something like ten years ago. When I went by Matsuda. Does that name ring any bells to you?”

  
The sarcastic answers Ukai was so proficient at didn’t come to him now. “You are supposed to be dead.”

  
“Is that what your grandpa told you?”

  
“Yeah? Obviously?”

  
“Well, he was wrong. Which he would have known, had he come for me and my pack. Had he tried to help us, like he was supposed to do.” His fists started shaking. Anger didn’t look right on his sweet face, but Ukai knew better than anyone that looks can be deceiving. “Are all druids backstabbing traitors, or is it just him?”

  
“They told him you were dead. They told him to leave town and never come back.”

  
“So why did he?”

  
“The Miyagi packs wiped out that particular strain of hunters. It was safe, so he brought us back to our home. He swore off the supernatural world after it happened, though. He was teaching me and he stopped. Still refuses to this day.”

  
“He’s still alive?”

  
“His health isn’t what it used to be.” A flash of sadness or a trick of the light. Ukai couldn’t be sure, and Takeda’s face went back to being unreadable. His ever-present pleasant smile was up again, like a shield. “What do you want with these poor kids, Takeda? What were you creating new betas for?”

  
“Revenge.” He fixed his glasses and his smile left. “I found them. There’s a last mutation of their ‘particular strain’, as you called it. The last hunters of that family have been making a name for themselves in Fukushima. I tried to stay away from all of this. Forget what they did. But they are killing werewolves just a few towns south from us. I have to do something.”

  
“Why not go to the Miyagi packs? They went after them before.”

  
“The hunters are not in Miyagi.”

  
“Ushijima would have contacted the Fukushima packs. He wouldn’t stand by and do nothing, especially with a family of hunters at his doorstep.”

  
“You don’t understand.” Takeda’s voice trembled, and he took a moment to compose himself. “This is personal. I gave up for years. Years. I am an alpha that willingly became an omega. I was ready to put it behind me. And now I’m ready to have a pack again. And I would, if Sawamura would stop stealing my betas.”

  
“I have to say, I really don’t think you approached them the right way. For a high school teacher, you need to learn how to interact with teenagers. Jumping them on the street doesn’t really give off the ‘approachable’ vibe to me.”

  
“It’s… hard. It’s been hard to control the wolf again.” To give him credit, Takeda did seem regretful. But to be fair to himself, Ukai was the one tied up to a chair, so he could go cry him a river. “I spent more than a decade without shifting. I lose my grip sometimes.”

  
“You mean like earlier tonight, when you tried to kill most of the Karasuno boys? Some of which you apparently hope to bring to your side somehow? Like that?”

  
“Shut up.” He turned from him and took a deep breath.

  
“Was tonight part of your plan?”

  
“No.” He run his hands through his curls, but they didn’t look more nor less messy. “I heard you tell them about doing the spell tonight. I just wanted to stop you, but everything went south.”

  
“No shit. So, what’s your current plan?”

  
“Well. My Plan E failed. I’m trying to come up with Plan F.”

  
“The name is already a bad start.” Takeda just sighed. “Well, whatever you are going to do to me, might as well get to doing it. The boys wouldn’t be stupid enough to come looking for me.”

  
The familiar chime of the bells above the doors of the store made its way to the basement. Ukai dropped his head down and sighed.


	11. The Big Bad Wolf

“Ouch! What the hell?”

  
“I’ve heard of this. Tanaka!” Daichi caught his hand before he tried to touch the cashier desk’s swinging door again. “It just hurt you! What are you touching it again for?”

  
“Maybe it was static electricity!”

  
“It’s made out of wood!” The captain sighed and let go of his arm. “This is mountain ash. No supernatural creature can get through it”.

  
“Let’s jump over it then!” Tanaka took a step back to build momentum and Daichi tried to grab his jacket, but didn’t make it in time. Tanaka lifted off the ground and flew for half a second, before crashing against a slight perturbance in the air above the counter and getting thrown back. He crashed against the closest shelf, scattering boxes everywhere.

  
“Hey! Stop destroying my store! Get out of here!”

  
“Coach Ukai!” shouted Hinata. “Are you okay?”

  
“He’s fine.” The door to the storage room opened. Takeda appeared and, behind him, the stairs that would take them to their coach. They only needed a way to cross the mountain ash counter.

  
“Wait! How did you get through?”

  
“I used Ukai’s arm to swing open the door.”

  
“Oh! Yachi!” Noya started, “Yachi, open it!” The girl shook her head violently.

  
“She can’t open it.”

  
“It doesn’t matter,” said Suga, “he’s trapped himself in there, haven’t you?”

  
Takeda shrugged. “I’m tired of running anyway. I owe all of you an apology.” His eyes travelled over the group. “Are Asahi and Kiyoko alright?”

  
“You keep her name out of your mouth!”

  
“And Asahi’s name, too! Don’t think I didn’t see you throw him down the stairs! You hurt his beautiful shoulder!”

  
“It wasn’t that bad!” The bells chimed again. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

  
“What are you doing here?”

  
“Sorry, Daichi,” said Kiyoko through clenched teeth, hopping towards them, holding on to Asahi as a crutch, “but I never agreed to sit it out.”

  
“Well, there goes my last hope,” sighed Daichi. “I really thought you were the sensible one of the pack.” He faced Takeda once more. “How about you start with an explanation?”

  
“It’s a long story.” He went to take a deep breath, but a noise came from downstairs that made him stop in his tracks. “Um. I’ll be right back.”

  
He disappeared through the door. “Asahi, open that!” said Tanaka, pushing him towards the cashier's desk. Suga took a hold of Kiyoko in his absence. “Quick!”

  
“What? Why me?”

  
“We can’t touch it, only humans can! Please!” Asahi pushed on the door. It swung open with ease.

  
“I guess it’s not that bad that I’m just a human after all, huh?”

  
“Don’t talk like that! You’re not just a human!” Noya hugged his waist. “You are my favorite human.”

  
Tanaka approached the open desk carefully, holding out just one finger to hover over the edge. It went through.

  
The pack ran after Takeda. There was a crashing sound, like glass shattering. When Hinata stepped into the storage room, he saw Ukai on the floor, one hand splayed out and the other holding a fistful of some dark powder. Next to him, a broken chair, a small knife, and a cut zip tie. Takeda was standing with his arms up to his sides, palms against the same invisible barrier that had sent Tanaka flying through the store. Around his feet, a perfect circle of that powder.

  
He run his hands through his mess of curls and fixed his glasses. With a smile, he sat down on the floor. “It’s a long story, but I’d still like to tell it, if you’d allow me.”

  
The team looked at their captain. “Coach Ukai, do you need help?”

  
“I’m golden. Kiyoko, let me take care of that.” He turned towards his shelves and started gathering different jars and boxes. Suga helped Kiyoko down and sat with her, holding her hand.

  
“Alright. Go on.”

  
“Ten years ago, I was the alpha of one of the packs here, in Sendai. When did you become a werewolf, Sawamura?”

  
“Five years ago.”

  
“The hunters were all wiped out from Miyagi by then. But when I had a pack, they were a problem. A big family settled in Sendai, started killing omegas. Then moved to persecuting whole packs. They were good at keeping out of sight. We only found the dead, never the hunters, never a fight. Only the aftermath. One night, it was my pack’s turn. We had been patrolling our territory, like all Miyagi packs were instructed to do. We went in pairs, but they still managed to kill both of us, every time. No one got far away enough to warn the others.” He had to stop and exhale. “I kept finding their bodies, like they had left a trail for me. But instead of bread crumbs, it was my family. I didn’t hear them until the first arrow went through my partner’s neck. I felt a bullet dig itself into my brain before he even touched the ground. Five of them came out of the darkness then, to check their damage. They recognized me as the alpha, but they thought I was dead. I thought so, too. Hoped so. But I wasn’t.”

  
“Man, can someone be just bad?” whispered Tanaka, drying his eyes. “Just one awful, irredeemable person without a tragic past, please?”

  
When he didn’t continue, Daichi asked, “if they are all wiped out now, what does this have to do with the past weeks?”

  
“The last remains of that family are terrorizing Fukushima now. I want to stop them.”

  
“Why not ask for help? Why not come to us, to the Shiratorizawa, instead of doing this?”

  
“Because he doesn’t want help,” said Suga, “he wants revenge.”

  
“Wouldn’t you?” Takeda raised his voice. “If someone killed Sawamura and everyone else in this room, wouldn’t you want revenge, too?” Suga looked away. Didn’t answer. “So I thought I would build a new pack. I tried to get Asahi to join, but then I found out that Nishinoya and the rest of the volleyball team were already a pack, so I tried to get first-years, but they kept joining you! So I tried getting someone who wouldn’t be able to join the male volleyball team.” He looked at Yachi. “I’m terribly sorry about how that went, by the way. But you still brought her in as your manager-in-training.”

  
“Why bring Ukai to us?”

  
Takeda laughed. “That was a bad move on my part, I’ll admit. I wanted to know if his grandfather had taught him, told him about this world. About me. I came in with the excuse of asking him to coach the team, expecting he would refuse, and he instantly agreed. But he didn’t seem to recognize me at all, so I just went along with it.”

  
“Why would he recognize you?”

  
“My grandfather was the druid for his pack,” explained Ukai, finishing bandaging Kiyoko’s leg.

  
“If you wanted us to be your new pack and help you,” Tsukishima started, a dangerous edge to his voice, “why attack us like that? Why not ask first?”

  
“I spent almost ten years without shifting, without acknowledging that side of me at all. The wolf has become… difficult to control.”

  
“Then just approach us in your human form!” Hinata had never heard Tsukishima raise his voice from his usual uninterested, flat tone. “You attack us on the street and then expect us to want to help you?”

  
“I wanted to make sure you would survive the bite.” At their confused expressions, he elaborated. “With your full wolf senses, when you’re transformed, you can smell if someone would survive the bite.”

  
“That’s something shifters can do?”

  
“No, Kageyama. Any werewolf can do it, if they know what to look for. It’s not easy, but it can be a life saver.”

  
Hinata felt Kageyama tense up beside him. He put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey. Stop.”

  
“Stop what.” His words were barely audible.

  
“I know what you’re thinking. Don’t.”

  
Kageyama lifted his arm, taking Hinata’s hand off of his back. But he didn’t let go of it.

  
“I could teach you how to do that, and other things. It’s been rough letting the werewolf out again but I… I’m tired of this. I lived in denial and then I lived in anger. I’m done now. My plans are bad. I've hurt most of you and I never meant for that to happen.” He took out his glasses, wiped tears off them with his shirt. “You can hand me over to Shiratorizawa or you can get your own revenge. But whatever you do, just remember that there are hunters out there, and they might not stay out of Miyagi for long. You don’t have to forgive me-”

  
“Aw, let’s forgive him, guys!” shouted Tanaka, voice still shaky. “Sure, it got a little intense, but he’s sorry and nobody got hurt!”

  
“I got hurt.”

  
“I’m still hurt.”

  
“You were holding my unconscious body in your arms like an hour ago.”

  
“Hey, who is that?”

  
Hinata looked back, recognizing the voice. Yachi yelped and turned, her angry face already looking upwards. Tendou was standing behind her, eating from an open box of cookies like it was a bag of popcorn. “Stop doing that!”

  
“Tendou, you promised you would behave.” Ushijima and some other Shiratorizawa werewolves were behind him. Daichi nodded at the leader in greeting.

  
“I told you I’d fix her! See? She’s tough now!” Yachi started crying. “Oh, no. I think I broke her.”

  
“I’m sorry!” Yachi exclaimed. She threw her arms around Tendou, then immediately stepped back. “I’m sorry I said you scared me!”

  
“I forgive you! Please, don’t cry!” He looked around helplessly, visibly horrified. “Cookie?” She sniffled and nodded, taking one from the box he was offering.

  
“And how did you guys get through the mountain ash?”

  
Ushijima looked blankly at Hinata. “I grabbed that box of cookies and pushed it open.”

  
“You have to pay for those!”

  
Tendou hid the box behind his back.

  
“I left the money in your cash register,” said Ushijima.

  
Ukai frowned and patted his pockets. “And how did you unlock it? I have the key on me.”

  
Ushijima’s eyebrows raised the slightest bit. “I will come back to pay for the cash register I broke.”

  
“I swear to God…” Ukai started sweeping the broken chair parts and glass shards into a corner. “I need to get a new sign. ‘No teenagers and no werewolves allowed’. And I need a nap.”

  
“I apologize.” He looked at Takeda, then at Daichi. “Is that him?”

  
“Yes. We have the situation under control now. Thank you for coming, though.”

  
Ushijima turned to the trapped man. “Are you going to stop biting teenagers?”

  
“Yes.”

  
“Are you taking responsibility for him?”

  
Daichi exhaled. “Yes.”

  
“I will leave you to it, then.”

  
“There are new hunters in Fukushima. The packs there might need our help,” added Daichi. “At the very least, we should be careful. Make sure they stay out of Miyagi.”

  
“I am aware, but thank you for the warning. I will let you know if there are meetings about the subject. You could come, if you want to get involved. Goodbye.” Ushijima turned, and the other werewolves started walking up the stairs.

  
Tendou pressed the box of cookies to Yachi’s hand. “Here. You’re too skinny. Take care, blondie!”

  
“You too!” Yachi waved him goodbye.

  
“Could you let him out?” Daichi asked Ukai when the Shiratorizawa were gone.

  
He grabbed a fresh fistful of mountain ash and swiped at the perfect circle with his shoe, breaking the line. Takeda didn’t move.

  
“I will be keeping an eye on you, but I’m willing to forgive you.” Daichi said. “I can’t make them do the same. And if you ever try anything, I will make sure you can’t hurt anyone again. But I think you’re being honest, and I believe that you are sorry. We could use someone with experience. If nobody here is opposed, we could work together. You are already part of the volleyball team.” He gave him a small smile. “Maybe you could even be a part of the pack someday.”

  
Daichi turned to Suga, and he nodded. “I don’t trust you yet, but I don’t know what I would do in your place. I hope I never have to find out.”

  
One by one, they quickly agreed with Daichi. Even Kiyoko did, while Takeda dissolved into apologies for her wound. Only Tsukishima had something to say.

  
“I don’t forgive you. If Daichi says you can be with us, then fine. But you hurt my friend, and I will never forgive you for that.”

  
Takeda apologized again, but he didn’t answer him. Daichi patted Tsukishima’s arm. “Well, then. Asahi and Noya, get Kiyoko and Yachi home, and then yourselves. Every werewolf who wasn’t gravely injured tonight is coming with me to fix up the school. C’mon. You know where the stairs are.”

  
“Oh, man. I’m tired!”

  
“Shut up, Tanaka. Get moving.” He turned to Takeda. “Are you coming?”

  
“Yes. Of course.”

  
Hinata waited for his upperclassmen to go first. Daichi stayed for last with Takeda and Ukai.

  
“It might take some time for them to adjust,” he said, “but you are not alone anymore. And if the hunters come back, we will be ready for them.”


	12. All Is Well That Ends Well (Epilogue)

“Bro, that’s crazy! Did you hear that, Akaashi?”

  
“Yes. I’m right here.”

  
“Isn’t that crazy?”

  
“So crazy.”

  
“It was their teacher all along!”

  
“I know, Bokuto.”

  
“C’mon.” Kuroo got up and held his hands out for Kenma. “Last game. Let’s break the tie.”

  
He put the videogame console back in his bag and took them. “I’m glad you’re okay, Hinata. That must have been scary.”

  
“It was super scary!”

  
“It wasn’t that scary.”

  
“Tsukishima, you are the worst!”

  
“Shut up and get ready to lose.”

  
Kuroo laughed, a roar that made Hinata jump on his seat. “Did that come out of you? I thought it was an earthquake!”

  
His laughing just got even louder. “Oh, I love these two.” He slapped their backs. “C’mon, Tsukishima! Let’s kick their asses!”

  
“Nah, bro! We’re gonna win!”

  
“With your weak-ass spikes? Maybe in your dreams.”

  
“My… my spikes aren’t weak! Akaashi! Are my spikes weak?”

  
“Kuroo, that’s cheating.”

  
“Your boyfriend, your problem.”

  
“Akaashi! You avoided the question! Do you think my spikes are weak?”

  
“Your spikes are amazing, Bokuto-senpai, sir!”

  
“Hey, hey, hey! Hinata, Akaashi, let’s crush them!”


End file.
